CNN announced Wednesday evening it suspended pro-Trump contributor Paris Dennard after a news story surfaced saying he was fired from a previous job for sexual harassment.
“We are suspending Paris, effective immediately, while ?we look into the allegations,” the network said in a statement posted on CNN.com.
The announcement came shortly after The Washington Post published a story saying Arizona State University terminated Dennard in 2014, after multiple women alleged he sexually harassed them.
Read More: Morgan Freeman Demands CNN Retract Sexual Harassment Story
The paper cited documents from an internal ASU investigation that found Dennard engaged in “serious misconduct.”
The investigation included an accusation from a recent college graduate who worked for Dennard. The young woman claimed Dennard told her he wanted to have sex with her.
He “pretended to unzip his pants in her presence, tried to get her to sit on his lap, and made masturbatory gestures,” the university report stated.
Dennard, who served as events director at ASU’s McCain Institute for International Leadership, did not deny making the comments, but told university investigators they were meant as a joke.
After the school launched an investigation, Dennard was placed on administrative leave and eventually terminated.
A bio on his website lists his political experience as working for President George W. Bush from 2005-2009, and serving as the White House Director of Black Outreach. It says he is currently a member of the Donald J. Trump for President, Inc. Advisory Board and was appointed as a commissioner for the President’s Commission on White House Fellowships.
The Washington Post story was published two days after Trump praised Dennard on Twitter calling him “wonderful.”
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